Gratitude for Guatemalan Visitors
From Zionsville Christian Church
Our visit with our friends from the Concejo, Nora and Mayra has come to an end. We had these two ladies constantly on the move all week to take advantage of their limited time. There were tremendous amounts of help from the members of our Guatemalan Ministry but also from Zionsville Christian Church members who had never been to Guatemala!
Thanks to the efforts of everyone, during the week our Guatemalan friends were able to:
- Watch our Youth Group in action.
- Present to a group of local college professors on the efforts of the Universidad Maya Kaqchikel to provide higher education to Mayans.
- Present to our women’s groups regarding women’s issues in Guatemala.
- Meet with the head of our local Sullivan Munce Museum to complete a deal selling goods from CopeArte in the museum gift shop.
- Meet with members of Central Christian Church.
- Meet with members of Global Ministries in downtown Indianapolis.
- Present on Guatemalan history, culture and peace efforts to over 100 of our Zionsville Community High School’s most advanced Spanish students.
- Meet with the Association of Guatemaltecos about efforts they could jointly pursue to improve conditions in Guatemala.
- Meet with many of the shopkeepers on Main Street and with Global Gifts about efforts to sell goods from CopeArte.
- Attend the Guatemalan Independence Day celebration at Fort Ben.
- Have a dinner at our church attended by around 100 people about ½ of whom were members of our church and ½ of whom were members of the Guatemalan community here in Indiana.
- They even were able to watch the Fall Festival parade from my front porch!
Overall, this has been a really valuable experience. Members of our church who will never be able to go to Guatemala on a mission had the opportunity to learn first-hand about conditions in Guatemala and the Concejo’s efforts to improve things and our Guatemalan friends had an opportunity to make connections and work towards securing their future.
Special thanks need to go out to so many including David for help with all the planning and Sarah with a week of translating and driving our guests around. Thanks also to Paulette and Marsha for being tour guides during the week and showing off our community, Sonja for making her home available and Mary for arranging things with the women’s groups. Thanks to Alex Nelson for his help in translating. Thanks to so many others for help with food during our fundraising dinner.
Nora has written to say thanks to all of you:
“Thank you very much. One, two and three times thank you very much for the hospitality and agenda that you achieved for us. With this we managed to expand the information and knowledge of the Ecumenical Council, CopeArte R. L and the Maya University Kaqchikel.
God bless you, a strong hug to each, God continue to bless you.”
They continue to work hard to achieve their goals, an inspiration to us all.
Next we will continue to work to help CopeArte and the Concejo Ecumenico. Goods from CopeArte will be available at the Holiday Bazaar and a limited selection is also available at the Sullivan Munce Museum. The Concejo is hard at work on their next project helping Guatemaltecos who have been in the U.S. transition back to life in Guatemala.
We will soon begin making plans for our next Mission Trip to Guatemala. I hope to see a mix of returning missionaries and new missionaries inspired by this experience.
Again, thank you to all who have helped. I think this has been a great experience for our church and our community, as well as Nora and Mayra!
To learn more about the Ecumenical Christian Council of Guatemala, click here.
To learn more about the Maya Kaqchikel University of the Ecumenical Christian Council of Guatemala, click here.